Millers Carp & Cats 2022

After having to rearrange the holiday due to covid restrictions we were eventually able to make the journey over to France to fish Millers at the beginning of April 2022. The lake is located a short 2.5 hour drive from the port of Caen. The lake was around 4 acres in size and had a good head of carp to over 50lb and Catfish to 130lb.

Research:

Going into the session, I had done some research looking at previous catch reports for similar times in the year and also in different weather conditions to get an understanding of the approaches that worked previously.

This gave me a good idea of a starting plan for the trip, and I find it valuable when fishing new lakes. I'll always do as much research beforehand, making notes of what I find so I can refer to them when at the lake as a pointer. This is all they should be, try not to get dragged into following the information you find out religiously, as with all things in fishing the carp have their own plans and being able to adapt is an angler's greatest skill.

Arriving at the lake:

We arrived at the lake on a very chilly morning, and were met by the owner Lee. After walking around the venue with Lee, we decided to choose 2 swims at the end of the lake, which gave us access to a backbay, Island and open water. This gave me and my dad the best options to maximise the lake exclusive and to fish as much of the water as possible. This end of the lake was also deeper than the other side, which was preferred with the colder temperatures we were due.

Having set up in the swims, I'd opted to fish the left hand peg putting one rod into the back bay and 2 rods out into open water on the entrance to the back bay to target the carp on their patrol routes in and out of the bay.

Bait:

I'd set out using my ever faithful Solid bags filled with KARPER Sweetcornz Pandamonium pellets, injected with energiser gel. The hookbaits of choice were the Sweetcornz dispersion wafters and Sweetcornz Ultra-fluro white wafters.

I went with Solid Bags, due to my confidence in this approach, and wanting to put a small parcel of bait out to try and pick up some quick bites at the start of the session. Due to the nature of the open water spot it was likely that fish would be coming through there often to move into the deep bay, so another to catch their eye and trip them up was the plan.

The Fishing:

The start of the week started off slow, as expected picking up the odd fish here and there. With temperatures in single digits through the days then dropping down to -4 most nights, it proved to be making the fish less willing to feed.

After a few days of cold weather, it eventually took a turn for the better and the remaining days were warmer with temperatures not plummeting at night as much. This definitely helped to pick up the fishing and meant a change of approach was on the cards.

Having started picking up bites more frequently, I decided to start putting out more Bait over the spots to try and get the fish competing and building a spot. I put out a mixture of wholes, chops and crumb of the KARPER Sweetcornz and KARPER RS Boilies. I added the house pellet into the mix as well as some Energiser Liquid to add extra attractant to the bait.

This change of tactic definitely paid off over the remaining few days with me finishing on 33 fish (27 carp and 5 catfish), including:

10 x 30lbs biggest 37lb
17 x 20lbs
1 x double
5 x Catfish

My dad also fished with similar tactics throughout the week opting for German Rigs with KARPER Sweetcornz wafters on, over a bed of the boilie and pellet mix.

He went on to land 39 fish (32 carp and 7 cats), including:

2 x 40lbs biggest 45lb 8oz
8 x 30lbs
18 x 20lbs
4 x doubles
19 x 20s
7 x cats up to 125lb

Conclusion:

Overall it was a good week in the end, it was a shame I had managed to catch the smaller residents in the lake. But, it was all good fishing nonetheless, going to show how important it is to stay vigilant, adapt to what's in front of you, and use previous experiences and knowledge to guide you in making them decisions.

Europe Bait Rigs Solid Bags

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